Fox Searchlight Hires Universal Exec Anikah McLaren As SVP Production

Anikah McLaren, in the NBCUniversal fold for the past 12 years first at Focus Features and then as VP Production and Development at Universal Pictures, has been tapped as SVP Production at Fox Searchlight. “Anikah’s intelligence, background and breadth of knowledge across all genres make her a perfect fit for our eclectic taste and commitment to stellar filmmaking,” said Searchlight President of Production Claudia Lewis, to whom she will report. “We are thrilled to welcome her to Searchlight.”

The move comes after Lewis last month promoted Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum to EVPs Production. They also report to Lewis.

In her VP role at Uni, McLaren oversaw movies including Lone Survivor, Dracula Untold and The Best Man Holiday and also managed the Blumhouse account, including M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming The Visit. She had been in preproduction on the next Bourne sequel and Purge 3 and had 15 projects in development. At Focus, she was the New York-based manager of acquisitions and assistant to then-Focus boss James Schamus.